Thor

Thor walked through the front door of his apartment, tossed his briefcase on the table, and collapsed face-first onto his bed. He yanked his shoulder-length blond hair out of its ponytail and ran a hand through it. Work had been far too stressful today, and Jane had ignored him yet again. The phone next to his bed began to blast the "Friends" theme song. Thor jumped and began to fumble for the 'talk' button on the phone.

"Hello?" he mumbled as he sat up. He ran a large hand over his face and rubbed at his blurry blue eyes.

"Thor! Where are you?!" a chipper, annoyed voice squawked at him through the speakers. He winced as he recognized his best friend's voice.

"Darcy?"

"Yes, you dork! Did you forget about Bruce's birthday party?" His childhood best friend began to lecture him on why one should never be late for her step-brother's party as Thor stood and stripped off his suit coat and tie.

"Okay, okay! I'll be there in fifteen!" he exclaimed as Darcy continued to lecture him. He grabbed a clean gray shirt from his closet.

There was a smile in Darcy's voice as she said, "The Oceanview, on Adams." There was a click as she hung up. Thor shook his head fondly and buttoned the gray shirt. He checked to make sure he had his wallet, slid his feet into the motorcycle boots his mother had bought him for his birthday, and walked out the door.

Ten minutes later, he stood outside the club Darcy had specified, tying his long hair back into a ponytail to get it out of his face. He walked inside, impatiently brushing the few shorter strands in the front out of his face; he needed a haircut.

"Thor!" exclaimed a voice, and a moment later he was engulfed in a bone-crushing hug that smelled like alcohol and grapefruit.

"Hey Darce," he said, returning the hug with enthusiasm. "How are you?" The short, curvy woman pulled back and grinned widely at him.

"Not too shabby. A little tipsy, probably. Oh, wait, you're late; I should be mad at you." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him half-heartedly.

"It was a long day and I was stressed. I was planning on getting drunk anyway, why not do it here?" Thor laughed at his indignant best friend.

"Thor, hey, glad you could make it," said Bruce, walking up behind his step-sister. He slung his arm around her shoulders and reached to shake Thor's hand with his free arm.

"Happy Birthday, Bruce. I'll drop your gift at your place tomorrow, alright?" Thor shook the older man's hand with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, sure, sounds good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go find Betty. She was dragged off to go do shots by Maria, and I think she wants to be rescued before she does something she'll regret." Bruce waved as he walked off toward the bar.

"Go get a drink, big guy. Looks like you need it," said Darcy, bumping her shoulder against his arm. "Thanks for coming out tonight."

Thor grinned and pulled the brunette into a bear hug. "Drinking alone isn't fun. Maybe I can get Natasha to agree to a contest." Darcy laughed and pushed Thor towards the bar. He let the grin fall from his face, determined to drink until he forgot about Jane. He didn't want Darcy to worry, was all. That's why he was lying about how he was feeling.

"Thor, hey!" a female voice called from a secluded table. He looked towards the voice and saw Natasha's flaming head of hair and the glint of Clint's easy smile. He waved and glued a smile to his face as he made his way over to the couple.

"Hey guys," he said, accepting the shot of vodka Natasha held out to him. He knocked it back and savored the burn. "What's new?"

"Well Clint just closed on this fantastic lakefront property, and I moved in on the top spot in the league. We're celebrating," Natasha babbled, a goofy grin on her usually serious face.

"Congrats, both of you," said Thor. Natasha began to tell the story of her latest fight, gesturing with her hands. Clint poured Thor another shot, sensing that the blond man was not his usual jovial self. Thor nodded in thanks and knocked it back. The light caught a glint on Natasha's left hand, and Thor caught it mid-gesture to see what it was. A diamond winked back at him from the redhead's hand, and a small but genuine smile crept onto his face. "Your first thought when I asked 'What's new' wasn't to tell me about this?"

Natasha blushed and Clint grinned. "It took so long for her to say yes, and we didn't want to spoil Bruce's day. Darcy would kill us," said the realtor as he wrapped an arm around his redheaded fiancée.

"Well congrats," said Thor, a grin on his face. "And Bruce would be delighted to hear about the engagement." Natasha's blush just deepened; Thor didn't think he'd ever seen the petite MMA fighter blush before.

Thor began to walk away to leave the happy couple in peace, but Clint caught his arm. "I'm here if you need a drinking buddy, got that?" Thor nodded, grateful for a friend like Clint; there for him when he needed support, but not pushing to talk about it like Darcy did. He left the couple to enjoy their bottle of vodka and headed over to the bar to grab a drink of his own.

A/N—Hey readers. Sorry it took me so long to post another story; I've been crazy busy. This is only going to be a few chapters and most likely won't have a super-happy ending. Well, enjoy! I'll try to have it done by next weekend, deal? Reviews appreciated :) Oh, and I don't own anything familiar. At all. Sadly.

-Rose